Waterlogged
by Rootbear
Summary: In the vast majority of cases, drowning people are physiologically incapable of calling out for help because the human body is wired to give priority to the primary respiratory function, breathing, and not to speech. Not that calling out would have helped Andy. A/S Now a 2shot
1. Chapter 1

I'm not a doctor, I'm not a cop, and most of this is pulled straight out of my ass so ignore any inconsistencies.

I don't write much so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

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Andy McNally had died.

That is what five minutes of not having air did to the average human body. It shuts off everything trying to get enough energy to continue to pump blood through the heart and air through the lungs. Eventually you pass out and not long after you can't breathe without assistance and then you have no pulse.

She didn't recognize her surroundings but knew it wasn't somewhere she had been before. Everything was almost a blinding shade of white and she couldn't quite grasp on to anything real. Her body stuck out like a sore thumb in all the perfection. She was dirty and soaking wet, hair stuck to her face.

And then she felt it, unyielding pressure on her chest.

And then she realized she couldn't breathe. She wasn't much of a religious person but she knew if this was the other side her body wouldn't feel like this.

She grasped at her throat willing air to pass but it didn't. She sank to the white ground and after the same five minutes her body stopped working.

But that was the other side. The side she had just been pulled from.

She wasn't processing things nearly as fast as they were happening and she found herself coughing out what used to be icy water. Stomach acid mixed with the murky water from the harbor left her mouth tasting horrible but she barely noticed it. She was more focused on the air passing through her lungs and more water being spit out.

Still breathing heavy labored breaths she started to notice her surroundings. There were two bodies around her and several more moving quickly further away. She couldn't focus on the faces above her but could almost feel their hands rubbing up and down her arms. She had a thick blanket around her and cursed silently when one of the faceless bodies pulled it off of her. He said something but her brain still wasn't up to speed. His hands went to her vest, trying to pry the Velcro open. When it came off the blanket was wrapped more closely around her body.

That was all they could do until the paramedics got there. As Andy laid there the faces above her stopped swimming around and came in to focus. She tried to say his name but she didn't recognize what came out and then she was coughing more.  
He turned her on to her side and rubbed up and down her back. She thought she heard reassuring words but couldn't be sure because the cold was so loud in her head.

It was like her entire body was screaming at her. At first she couldn't distinguish hurt from cold but as she focused she definitely felt serious pain in her shoulder. She tried to focus on other parts of her waterlogged body but her mind was stuck on her shoulder. She felt like her whole body was tensed up and couldn't relax. She knew it hurt to breathe but couldn't be sure if that was the cold or if that was the warning of more broken bones.

She tried to think of anything before she was coughing up her insides on the hard ground but was coming up blank. She barely noticed the paramedics lifting her on to a stretcher and placing a mask over her mouth to help her breath. She was acutely aware as Sam's body followed her into the back of the warm ambulance.

By the time the ambulance pulled up to the back of the hospital her blanket had been replaced with a dry one but even that was becoming damp from her wet uniform. She didn't know when her body had ever felt this exhausted.

She didn't realize she was afraid to fall under until she jolted awake the second time. She knew she had been watching too many made for TV movies that depicted people falling into rare comas after being pulled from the other side.

Once inside the hospital there were many more doctors surrounding her. They pushed her into a room and started cutting off her uniform. She wasn't sure why but quickly ascertained that she must be in worse shape than she thought.

She winced rather loudly when they tried to pull off her shirt from her arm. They lightly pushed her back down and tried to assess the damage. Words and orders were passed around quickly and in a better state of mind it would have reminded Andy of the department during an active investigation.

She couldn't really make any sense of the medical terms getting passed around the room but was knowledgeable enough from her many hours of watching medical shows to realize what they were putting in to her IV.

Her mind swam until it turned off all together.

XXXXX

When her eyes fluttered open for a split second she was afraid she was back in that perfect white room but as her eyes adjusted to the light Andy could make out subtle colors. More importantly she could make out Sam's form still in the corner of the room.

Her hand reached up to move the oxygen mask that was still strapped to her face but his strong hands gently took hers away.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"

His voice sounded strong and Andy was hit with the realization that just hours before she wondered if she would ever hear it again. Her face must have looked panicked because he moved quickly embrace her in a hug rubbing her arm up and down. He whispered assurances of her well being until he felt like she had calmed down enough to talk.

"How do you feel, be honest." She tried to move her body and found that her pain had been reduced to a dull ache except for her ribs and her shoulder, both on her left side.

"Uhm, my shoulder, and my ribs I think." was all she could get out before feeling the need to put the oxygen mask back on.

"They said you broke your shoulder blade, which is actually kind of rare, so good on you. As for your ribs, two are broken and one is fractured. Breathing will probably hurt for the next week or so." He thought her face looked empty to what he was telling her and although the doctors had ruled it out he wondered if her brain was damaged from lack of oxygen.

"Andy, do you remember what happened?" He asked cautiously. She closed her eyes and once again tried to focus on anything before she was revived on the side of the harbor.

She remembered the beginning of the day, waking up at Sam's apartment, eating breakfast, going to the station. After that she felt it get a little fuzzy. She thought she was riding by herself that day but something didn't seem right about that.

"Was anyone with me, in the car?" was the question that finally came out.

"No, you were by yourself. We had just finished with dinner and you got a call about a disturbance down by the harbor."

She was slowly piecing together the night. It came flooding back far faster than her mind would have liked. Not only did she not expect anyone to be driving down by the pier she certainly didn't expect that car to come out of nowhere. By the time she saw the headlights coming towards her it had been too late, there was nothing she could have done, nowhere she could have gone. Her car had been hit on the driver's side and was sent in to the icy water.

She remembered struggling with the door, trying to get it open while also trying to remember what the Myth Busters had said about the possibility of getting a door open in a sinking car. Her arm screamed in protest but she eventually got it open just the slightest bit. Water had come rushing in and soon it was too hard to protest.

Sam had filled in the rest. She had somehow gotten out of the car but had lost too much energy fighting the waves to make it to the shore. By the time dispatch had sent backup she had been hopeless.

He didn't go on, didn't feel like he had to. All that was important now was that she was here in front of him and had no life threatening ailments.

The hypothermia would wear off within the next day and the broken ribs would take a couple of weeks to be back to normal, but her shoulder was what was going to put her up for a while. Desk duty here she came. In the long run she didn't really mind, it beat being dead or even floating hopelessly in the icy water. At least here she got to wake up and go to bed with Sam every day.

Yeah, this was definitely better.


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't really know where this was going but I figured it was worth sharing, so thanks for reading.

* * *

It had been six weeks. Six weeks of hospital checkups, paperwork, lying in bed with Sam, lying in bed without Sam, generally being bored for six whole weeks.

Andy didn't like not working but right now she couldn't possibly imagine getting back in to a squad car. Every time she thought about it her mind sabotaged her and brought back strong memories of almost drowning, the way the water was ice cold, the way it forced itself down her throat, the distinct overwhelming feeling that she may never see Sam again. That's what scared her the most. Since the accident that almost took her life they had spent many nights holding on to each other confessing secrets in the dark.

But tomorrow was supposed to be different. Tomorrow was the day when the paperwork would stop and she was expected to get back into a squad car for an eight hour shift. It was scary to even imagine.

Last week they had her go to the wrecker yard and catalogue everything that was salvageable from the car they pulled out of the water, which was basically nothing.

* * *

"I'll go with you." Sam offered as she got dressed. She thought about it for a moment, looking at his face as he sat on the bed watching her. He had really been a saint these past few weeks but Andy though she needed to do this alone. Maybe she would be stronger if he wasn't there waiting for her to break down again.

"Thank you Sam, but I think I should do this by myself."

When she stood in front of the car an hour later she had no idea how she managed to get out. The whole side was squished; she couldn't even read the police decals on the car. Flashbacks and hazy memories flooded her mind as she opened the door that was unscathed. The smell was horrible. Salty and reminiscent of the murky water she almost died in. She took another minute to compose herself before opening the glove box. Everything was soaked.

She spent another hour cataloging the wet mess for internal affairs, who insisted that she was the only one who could do it. Maybe it was their way of making sure she was fit for duty after the accident, either way, Andy hated every minute of it.

When she got back to their house after dropping of the paperwork at the station she wanted to do nothing more than to shower. She walked in to their bedroom and heard the water already running. Sam must have gotten off his shift and come home early. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to join him. Standing by herself any longer and she might fall apart right there.

She went in to the bathroom quietly as to not warn him of her presence and pulled off her clothes, which she though smelled entirely too much like that fateful night. She opened the door and Sam felt a gust of cool air and turned around.

There were no grand gestures of togetherness while they were in there. Something told Andy that someone must have phoned Sam after she left the station about how distant she seemed because he didn't force her to talk. He stood idly as she fussed with shampooing his hair and insisted that he return the favor. He always did know exactly what to say. Before they got out she pulled him into a hug and they stood there together under the stream of water that was beginning to run cold.

* * *

Andy tried to force the memory from her mind. After their shower they laid on their bed and Andy had what she was determined to be her last breakdown. Tomorrow she needed to be ready to move forward.

When she woke up Sam was already out of bed making coffee she could smell from down the hall. She laid there staring at the ceiling until he came in and told her she was going to be late. She went through her morning routine like nothing had happened and before long they were in Sam's truck on the way to the station.

"It will get easier." He said after he put the truck in park. "It's like riding a bike; it will come back to you."

"Fake it till you make it." She gave him a smile and hopped out of the truck

* * *

That's it, I wasn't really sure where I was going to go with this, actually I never really planned on writing a sequel.

Please review, it means a lot, and check out Empty Cradles if youve got spare time.


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